Michael Turner (footballer)

For the Australian footballer, see Michael Turner (Australian rules footballer).

Michael Turner

Personal information
Full name	Michael Thomas Turner
Date of birth	9 November 1983 (1983-11-09)
Place of birth	Lewisham, England
Height	1.93 m (6 ft 4 in)
Playing position	Centre Back
Club information
Current club	Sunderland
Number	4
Youth career
000?–2002	Charlton Athletic
1998	→ Internazionale (apprenticeship)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2002–2004	Charlton Athletic	0	(0)
2003	→ Leyton Orient (loan)	7	(1)
2004	→ Brentford (loan)	16	(0)
2004–2006	Brentford	75	(3)
2006–2009	Hull City	129	(12)
2009–	Sunderland	52	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 23:00, 31 January 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals).

Michael Thomas Turner (born 9 November 1983) is an English footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Sunderland.

Club career

Charlton Athletic

Born in Lewisham, London, Turner started his career at Charlton Athletic. As part of a link-up Charlton had with Internazionale, he spent several months of his apprenticeship with the Italian club's under-19 team. After signing professional terms with Charlton, he went out on loan to Leyton Orient in March 2003 until the end of the 2002–03 season. The following season, he was captain of Charlton's reserve team, and was named Charlton's Young Player of the Year 2003–04.

Brentford

In August 2004, Turner joined Brentford on an initial one-month loan, which was later extended to two, then three, months. At the end of his loan spell, in November 2004, Brentford signed Turner permanently, on a two-and-a-half year contract, for an undisclosed fee. He was highly rated at Griffin Park, being voted Players' Player of the Year in the 2004–05 season and Supporters' Player of the Year in the 2005–06 season.

Hull City

In July 2006, Turner joined Hull City, for a fee of £350,000, on a three-year contract. Turner was Phil Parkinson's first signing for the Tigers, during his short spell in charge. Parkinson said of the signing: "He's a player that I've watched for a number of years, firstly with Charlton reserves and then obviously with Brentford. I like him a lot and believe he'll be an excellent signing for us because he's ready to play Championship football. Michael was the best central defender in League One last season and is ready to step up."

Turner playing for Hull City in 2009

After a very disappointing start to the 2006–07 season, Turner's form significantly improved, and he finished the season as one of the club's successes of the year. He was voted Hull City's Player Of The Season in their promotion-winning 2007–08 season. His good form was rewarded, as he signed a new three-year deal with Hull in April 2008.

Turner scored his first Premier League goal in September 2008 during the 2–2 draw at home to Everton. Turner scored his second goal of the 2008–09 season against West Ham United in October, which proved to be the winning goal of the match with the game ending 1–0 to Hull City at the KC Stadium.

Turner played every minute of every Premier League game for Hull in 2008–09, and was one of only two outfield players to do so, the other being Portsmouth's Sylvain Distin. At the end of the season Turner was named as the Official Supporters Club's player of the year for the third season in a row, as well as the club's official player of the year for the second season in a row.

On 31 August 2009, after Turner had been repeatedly linked with Liverpool and Manchester City amongst other clubs, a bid was finally accepted from Sunderland after Hull City manager Phil Brown claimed that offers currently tabled for Turner were "getting towards a ridiculous valuation".

Sunderland

Sunderland completed the signing of Turner on a four-year contract for an undisclosed fee initially thought to be at least £6 million, but later revealed to be just £4 million, with Charlton receiving part of the transfer fee as a sell-on-clause. Turner made his Sunderland debut against former club Hull City. Turner thought he had scored on his debut against his former club, but the goal, Sunderland's fourth, was later credited as a Kamil Zayatte own goal. Turner scored his first Sunderland goal and completed the full 90 minutes against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Barclays Premier League on 27 September 2009 in a 5–2 victory. On 19 December 2009 Turner was sent off during Sunderland's 4–3 defeat at Manchester City. Sunderland appealed the decision, but it was rejected, and Turner controversially had his suspension increased to four matches. Turner played his first game of the 2010–11 season against Colchester United in the Carling Cup 2nd round tie at the Stadium of Light. On 29 August 2010, he started his first premier league match of the season against Manchester City but had to be replaced through injury at half-time by Phil Bardsley in a 1–0 win at the Stadium of Light. He did not make his return to the first team until the 25 September against Liverpool at Anfield, when he completed the full 90 minutes alongside Titus Bramble in the 2–2 draw. On 2 October, Turner played the full 90 minutes against Manchester United in a 0–0 draw at the Stadium of Light. On 18 October 2010, he started and played the full 90 minutes against Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park in a 0–0 draw. On 31 October 2010, Turner played the full 90 minutes in the Tyne-Wear Derby game against Newcastle United at St. James' Park and also got booked in their 5–1 defeat. Exactly six days later he played in a 2–0 win over Stoke City at the Stadium of Light. In November, Turner sustained a knee injury making a goal-line clearance in Sunderland's 2–2 draw with Everton. The injury ruled Turner out for several months, and although he returned to action in March, his form dropped and he continued to struggle for fitness.

After returning to full fitness, Turner started his first game of the 2011–12 season on 1 October, a 2–2 draw with West Bromwich. He retained his place in the next three games, a defeat at Arsenal, an away win at Bolton and a home draw with Aston Villa, before suffering a re-occurrence of his injury. He returned to action on 14 January away to Chelsea, replacing Matt Kilgallon who had himself suffered an injury, as Sunderland lost 1–0. He started for the Black Cats in their back to back wins against Norwich and Stoke, helping keep clean sheets in the process. Turner also started in Sunderland's FA Cup fourth round replay at Middlesbrough, and was widely blamed for Lukas Jutkiewicz's equaliser, although Sunderland went on to win in extra time.

International career

A string of good performances in October 2008 led team-mate Dean Marney to call for Turner's inclusion in the England squad, claiming that he had outshone England rivals Jonathan Woodgate and Matthew Upson. However, Hull City manager Phil Brown remarked at the time that such calls were "premature".

External links

• Michael Turner career stats at Soccerbase
• Michael Turner's Premier League profile

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Andy Dawson	Hull City Player of the Season 2007–2008 2008–2009	Succeeded by Stephen Hunt